The Misfit Flower
by Amber Komasaki
Summary: The BBA has created another tournament, but some of the Bladebreakers members are distracted by other things. Can they defend their title of world champions?
1. Welcome to New York

The Bladebreakers team was in New York City for the newest tournament of the BBA. Daichi had joined, Kai had rejoined, and Ray and Max had decided to come back also. There were five of them, total, not including their coach, Hiro, Kenny "chief" their mentor slash techie and repairman, and Hillary (she wasn't really there as anything besides a tagalong cheerleader.) They were staying in a large hotel, at the moment, and were barely tolerating each other in such close quarters.

The hotel room was fairly large and connected to a separate room for Hillary, Hiro and Kenny. Apparently, the Bladebreakers would have to share one room between the five of them. It wouldn't have been so hard, had there been less of them and had they gotten along better. Max calculated that Daichi and Tyson would eat all their food in about two hours -he was right- and when the two weren't eating, they would be bothering Kai or being so loud that no one could sleep. Also, the fact that Tyson by himself could take up a king-sized bed posed a problem. Five people, two twin sized beds (one of the five people being Tyson.) Ray had offered to sleep on the floor, but Kenny had squashed the idea by stating that he'd be too sore to blade his best.

Tyson was shoving his face, just as quickly and greedily as he could, fighting with Daichi over different dishes while Kenny and Hillary watched, almost embarrassed that a world champion could be so disgusting. Over on the Sofa of the large hotel room Max and Ray were watching some comedy movie on the television and cracking up, with Hiro sitting between them looking only slightly amused.

Kai was laying on one of the twin beds, staring dully at the ceiling, giving the impression of someone hypnotized. The sound of Daichi launching himself across the table, and missing the dish he wanted, woke him from his daze. He was extremely bored and sick of being stuck in a hotel with his whole team.

"I'm going out," he said simply, not bothering to say where. His teammates were so stupid hw couldn't understand how they'd all become world champions. A reply from Max startled him.

"Yo, man, I'll go with you!" the cheerful blonde called, catching up to him, "Hiro wouldn't want any of us going out alone. He still thinks we're kids," Max laughed a little at the thought then explained, "I mean, I'm old enough to drive and he acts like I need a babysitter. He's rougher on Tyson, though, so I feel worse for him."

Kai decided that if he ignored him, the moron would go away. His plan faltered when Ray joined them, looking almost excited about being out in the city. The raven-haired boy was grinning like there was no tomorrow (which that gave Kai a jealous feeling, for some odd reason.)

"We could do some serious exploring," Ray said, and the two assumed it as his greeting, "hey, wanna go check out some of those shops over there?" he pointed at a long string of the small buildings.

"Max shrugged, "Why not? I could get some city clothes. Maybe, we could meet some ladies," he smiled, though it was empty. Max was hopeless when it came to girls. Actually, all three of them were. Kai scared them away, Ray was too preoccupied to notice them until they were gone, and Max was just pathetic and hopeless in general.

"Why would I want to go shopping…" Kai muttered, glaring at Max and giving Ray a look that clearly stated he was acting like an idiot, "I have better things to do than spend my money on a bunch of crap," he walked a ways ahead, but found himself sandwiched between his two teammates in a matter of seconds.

"Alrighty, Mr. Sourpuss," Max exclaimed, laughing loudly, "we'll do something more fun and meaningful, since you obviously want to go to that dance club across from the shops!" he started steering Kai towards he building, from which a loud bass beat was issuing.

"Yup, I have to agree with Max," Ray said, giving Kai a somewhat apologetic look, "you don't get out enough, so we're just gonna force you to be social," he pushed Kai the direction Max was going, and they soon reached the doors.


	2. Terranova

The minute they entered the club, Kai got the distinct feeling he wasn't going to like it. The bass was so loud he felt almost dizzy from it echoing in his head. Regardless of any ailments or complaints, Max dragged him and a hesitant Ray in quickly.

"This is going to be so fun!" the blonde exclaimed, practically jumping up and down with excitement, "I can't wait to meet some girls! It's not fair that Tyson gets all the girls!" he had to yell to them over the blaring music.

Ray yelled back, confused, "What do you mean?! Tyson doesn't have ANY girls! He's as pathetic when it comes to them as the rest of us!" he raised an eyebrow at Max when Kai added his own comment.

"Hillary."

He didn't actually yell, but they both got the gist of it anyway, or heard it enough to know what he meant. Tyson didn't technically 'have' Hillary, but it was somewhat obvious that the outspoken brunette liked him, despite her persistent protests to the fact.

The club wasn't exactly a rave, but it wasn't a fancy ball either. It was somewhere in between. They played loud, annoying rap songs, but they also played slower, lesser-known songs. There were even a few instances where they had actual singers performing to the songs through karaoke. Max was enjoying himself flirting with some of the girls their age, while Ray was leaning against the wall looking a little nervous and uncomfortable.

"Hey," a voice distracted Kai's thoughts, "you're that Kai Hiwatari, the Beyblade champion!" she exclaimed, looking excited, "are ya here for another tournament?!"

It was a pretty blonde who had spoken, her eyes like two emeralds gleaming in the flashing lights of the club. She was about his height, maybe a little shorter. Dressed in a tight black tank top with the words 'Misfit Flower' printed on the front and sporting a baggy pair of khaki cargo pants, she looked like a pretty tomboy.

Kai glared at her, hoping if he kept the creepy look up long enough she'd leave. Unfortunately, she appeared to have no intention of leaving. Se even came a little closer and continued talking, "what, cat got yer tongue?!" she asked loudly, smiling at his fierce look, "Well, I suppose you don't need to tell me you're him! I could tell from across the room! You are here for the tournament, though, right?! You're not just a lost tourist?! This doesn't exactly look like your scene!"

"Would you just shut up and leave me alone?!" He snarled in annoyance, heading for the door.

When he got outside, he realized he'd left Max and Ray there, but decided he'd rather not go back in. He wasn't sure what it was about the blonde girl, but her bubbly personality bugged him. He was walking down the street, back towards the hotel, when he realized he'd gone the wrong way. Frustrated with himself, he turned back and found himself facing the girl from the club.

"What the Hell! Are you freaking stalking me?!" he found he had no temper left and couldn't help but explode on the poor girl. To his surprise, she laughed.

"No, I'm not. I just thought that maybe you'd like a tour of the city, since I know my way around here," she grinned at him, not backing down at all.

He got a weird feeling from her, one like he shouldn't talk to her. Perhaps she'd been on America's Most Wanted? He almost smirked at the thought, but stopped himself in time, "Look, girl, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you trying to talk to me, and I certainly don't want to go anywhere with you! Got it?!" his temper was getting the better of him, but it didn't seem to bother her. It was almost as if she enjoyed his aggravation.

"My name's not girl," she said, her expression now unreadable, "it's Terra. I'm Terranova Darkwood, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kai," she smiled at him; it was a warm smile, almost contagious.

This girl was so annoying, frustratingly happy, persistent, and yet…he found that he wasn't as angry as he'd been a minute ago.

"Yeah, whatever," he replied, staring dully at the sidewalk, wishing she'd go away but almost wanting her to stay. He mentally slapped himself when he asked a question, knowing she'd take it as a sign of acceptance, "d'you live here or something?"

She shook her head and explained, "I used to, a while ago, but then I moved to Japan with my grandmother. She decided I should get into more sports, so that's why I'm here," she winked at him, knowing he'd get what she meant about her reason for being in New York.

"Wait, you're a Beyblader?" he asked, suddenly realizing he'd been conversing with an opponent, "you're here for the tournament?"

She nodded and grinned again, "Yeah, I'm here with my team. We're called the Black Arsenic. Weird name, I know, but it's cool," she could tell he was now quite intrigued with the conversation, since it was a chance for a one-up on the enemy strategy.

"I'm here with the Bladebreakers," Kai said, nodding in approval of her team.

"Well, then," she said, starting to turn, "I should really be going. The team needs some practice."

"Who's your team leader?" Kai asked out of pure curiosity, something he usually found he didn't have.

"I am," she replied, then began to walk away, "hope to see you tomorrow at the prelims, Kai. Until then."

She turned a corner and was gone, leaving him alone on a semi-crowded street. Realizing he should go back for Max and Ray, Kai headed back to the dance club, still wondering about the 'Terra' girl.


	3. Spies?

Kai reentered the club, keeping his eyes peeled for Max and Ray. They weren't THAT hard to find, and how much trouble could Max get into with Ray keeping an eye on him? Perhaps it was this thought that worried Kai most. Ray wouldn't necessarily keep an eye on Max and trouble seemed to follow the kid constantly. Walking faster, he felt a surge of anxiousness, butquickly shooed it away. Maybe he was still bothered by the thought of that girl, Terranova.

He finally spotted Max, and a feeling of relief spread through him. The blonde boy was slow-dancing with a pretty girl about his height. She had brown hair the color of dark chocolate and eyes to match, though her eyes were a shade lighter. The two seemed to be talking, dancing at least a foot apart. Walking up to them, Kai got Max's attention by pulling him aside roughly.

"We better go. Hiro will lecture us if we get back too late," he said, looking stern, but Maxfrowned at the comment and pleadingly moved his eyes from Kai to the girl and then repeated the motion.

"Awww, Kai," he complained, looking extremely disappointed, "somebody actually finds me interesting!" he pouted as if the girl was more important than his own pride, and Kai found himself slightly amused by it.

"Look, Max, why don't you just get her number and call her later?"he asked, wondering how strong the blonde boy's shield of stupidity was. He waited patiently for a response, but was forgotten as Max ran back over to get the girl's phone number. Rolling his eyes, Kai was about to go find Ray when the Chinese teen popped up in front of him.

"Where've you been, Kai?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, "I was looking for you."

Kai shrugged and said, casually, "I went to leave, but some girl followed me. She left and I came back for you two."

Ray wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "well? What was her name? I can't believe that she was real unless I get a name. And no weird ones, or I'll know you're making it up."

"There's nothing to prove," Kai said simply, giving Ray a withering look, "and unfortunately, she did have a weird name. It was Terranova, or something like that."

Ray laughed at the name, but the girl Max was talking to came over, followed by him, and grinned wickedly, "You met Terra?" she said it naturally, as if she knew her.

"Yeah," Kai replied, feeling a little more uncomfortable, now, "we talked a bit."

"Ah," there was a pause and then she said suddenly, "You're Kai Hiwatari," with a smirk, she muttered, "bet she was checking-out the competition."

"Wait, you know she's a Beyblader," Kai said, working it out, "you must be-"

"On her team, duh," the girl replied, as casually as ever, "she's my team captain. We'll be facing you in prelims, tomorrow."

Max's jaw dropped and he exclaimed, "You're one of our opponents?!" he stared numbly at her and began to pout some more, "I have to fight you?! I was telling you about my strategies!"

"Well, your own fault for being so gullible," she replied, still wearing the same evil-looking grin, "and since I've checked out the competition enough for myself, I should be going, too. Don't hesitate to call, Maxie-kun!" with that said, she ran towards the door and disappeared outside. Max, Ray ans Kai followed, but she was gone when the got out.

Max frowned, "Reyakon, where'd you go?" he said this more to himself than to anyone else, -Kai and Ray assumed it was her name- then sighed heavily and mumbled, "I'm ready to go back to the hotel, guys…"

Ray patted him on the back and said comfortingly, "we'll beat 'em easy enough, I mean, we're world champions. Don't worry, Max, I'm sure the whole opponents thing won't stop her from wanting you to call her. She said it herself."

Max glared at him, looking extremely distraught, "She was on the same team as that girl Kai was hitting on, wasn't she?" he gave Ray and Kai a thoughtful look.

Kai hit him upside the head and kept walking, not bothering to look back, "I was NOT hitting on her, she was following me! Get some sense, would ya, Max? Idiot!"

They reached the hotel a few minutes later and made their way up to their room. Kai opened the door with the room key, since hehad beenthe one dubbed most likely not to lose it, and they were greeted gaily by Tyson and Daichi.

"Did you guys bring back any food or anything?" Tyson asked eagerly with a hopeful look in his eyes, "cause we ran out like fifteen minutes ago."

Hillary gave an unladylike snort and exclaimed, "It was more like an HOUR ago, Tyson! And we're out because you and Daichi ate it all! Did you even taste any of it?!"

Daichi shrugged, "Dunno, but I'm starving! Can we order takeout, or room service?" he hopped up and down, thrilled at the prospect of food.

Kenny came over and ushered them in all the way, closing the door behind them, "Nobody is going out for anything and we're not ordering room service, Daichi," he said, his tone having a sense of finality, "we're all getting ready for bed, and I advise you to get a lot of sleep."

When the younger boy had gotten the rest of them to go get into their pajamas and get ready for bed, Kai approached him and said quietly, "Hey, Chief. Have you ever heard of the black arsenic team?"

Kenny turned, startled at the odd question, "No, I haven't, why do you ask, Kai?" he wondered what kind of team could pike Kai's interest enough for him to actually ask someone about it

The taller boy shrugged his shoulders and then headed off to bed, "No reason, just wondering," came the reply.


	4. What happened at Breakfast

Kai woke up feeling tired, as though he hadn't slept a wink, which was almost entirely true. He'd been plagued by insomnia for nearly the whole night, and his head hurt like he'd been repeatedly hit with a jagged brick, well that was how he preferred to describe it. Everyone else was still in bed, with the exception of Ray who was sitting –meditating- by the window, and Tyson was snoring so loudly Kai had to wonder how Ray could concentrate at all.

He felt a nervous knot in his stomach –a first for him- and couldn't help but think it had something to do with the tournament (well, duh.) He sat up and gently moved from the bed to his feet. He went as carefully as he could to the door and then exited into the hallway. Hearing the sound of footsteps behind him, the slate-haired boy turned to find himself looking at Ray.

"Where are you going, Kai?" the Chinese teen asked, looking a little suspicious.

Kai found his voice and muttered, "I'm getting some breakfast. You coming, then?"

Ray nodded and the two waited patiently for the elevator. They were both still in their pajamas: Kai's consisting of a tight, black tank top and baggy blue jeans, Ray's consisting of Chinese-print pajamas that had fancy clasps all down the front. Their elevator arrived and both boys went inside, standing towards the back as the large, square machine descended a few levels.

There was a nice, hot breakfast buffet and Ray immediately found himself to be absolutely starving. Kai, on the other hand, wasn't as hungry but still knew he should eat something to keep his strength up. The two grabbed plates and loaded them, each with his own preference of foods. Kai picked up a small, blueberry muffin and a bagel with cream cheese, looking as though he didn't really feel like eating. Ray, however, had decided on a lemon poppy seed muffin, some scrambled eggs, a pancake and a few thin strips of bacon. They sat down at a small table meant for four, since there weren't any meant for two, and began to eat.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Kai recognized the voice immediately as Terranova, the girl from the night before,and turned to her quickly.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, "Are you trying to spy on us some more?"

The blonde girl brushed some bangs from her pale face and grinned devilishly, "I'm not here to spy on you, Kai, I'm here to eat my food," she took a seat next to Ray and across from his angry teammate, "I'll only be here as long as it takes me to eat, so don't worry about any spy work. I wasn't spying on you last night, anyway."

"Then what do you call what you were doing?" Ray demanded, all of his food untouched.

Terra's grin turned to an innocent smile, "I wanted to meet Kai is all," she shrugged, "I've always wanted to meet a Bladebreaker and I was just seeing if we could find out some of the people we'd be fighting in prelims. I'm Terra, it's nice to meet you, Ray, just telling you so I don't seem informal. It's hard to function this early in the morning.

A stern voice startled the three of them, though more Ray and Kai than Terra, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Ter?!" a tall boy with raven hair that had red highlighted bangs approached their table, "those guys are our competition!" he was a rival for Kai's height, and looked about a year or two older, dressed in all black with 'Black Arsenic' written in silver letters across the front of his shirt.

"Oh, hey Kurtz!" she replied cheerfully, "this is Kai," she motioned to him and then to Ray, "and this is Ray. They're from the Bladebreakers."

The tall kid, named Kurtz, sighed exasperatedly, looking extremely angry, "Must you always be congregating with the enemy, Ter?" he rolled his eyes and made a gesture for her to follow him, "Practice is going to start soon and you should get dressed!" she was still in a fuzzy pair of pajamas with the 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' monkeys on them, "and bring your muffin, if you want to finish it."

With a slight shrug of her shoulders, the somewhat delicate looking girl followed her teammate out of the lobby and towards the elevator, waving quietly at Kai and Ray on her way out, mouthing, "See you guys at the tournament!"


	5. Before the Prelimination

Okay, this is just a quick author's note, so listen up, please. I know that this chapter really sucks, but I'd appreciate a few reviews telling me why it sucks exactly so the next one won't. Oh, and you can review if you like it, too. I swear I won't mind.

The tournament was huge, almost as big as last year's finals, which surprised the Blade breakers since it was only the prelims. Tyson was putting on a big show of bragging about his championship title to anyone who'd listen -there were plenty of people who did- and this display of nonchalance was particularly annoying to Kai and embarrassing to the rest of the team. Ray was meditating again, over to the side of the arena by Kenny, and Max was watching the crowd for the other teams, hoping to see who they'd be battling. Daichi was trying to put on as big a show of bragging as Tyson, but the crowd seemed more interested in the three-time, or whatever he was, champion than him. Hillary was sitting next to Kenny, helping him sort out data with Dizzi, and Hiro was speaking with the announcer, DJ, about the upcoming battles.

Everyone was busy, in some way, except for Kai who found himself leaning against the wall around the Beyblade arena, slightly nervous but bored with the competition and people who were showing off. Most of the blading teams weren't very well-known, and the slate-haired boy found himself looking for the Black Arsenic team, wondering what was taking them so long to show up. He didn't know why, though, since he'd never even seen them blade before. Terra might be the worst blader in the world, so why did he want her team to show? He was awoken from his trance when he saw that another team was entering the arena. A feeling of odd joy surged through him, but he controlled his emotion and pretended not to see them.

Terranova was at the front of her team, not looking remotely close to the sweet, innocent girl she had seemed at breakfast and the night before. She walked with an air of arrogance, pride, an 'I'm better than you' attitude, then paused when she reached the arenas lights. Her long, blonde hair was held back on one side by a star-shaped, silver barrette which gleamed in the stadium lights, and her lush eyes were no longer friendly, but those of a dangerous opponent. She was dressed in a pair of her baggy jeans -blue this time- and a tight, black tank top which read 'the Poison Seeps through Every Truth I have left' in golden lettering. On the back, her shirt read 'Black Arsenic' in the same color, which showed that they either had a lot of pride in their team, or they liked the sound of it's name. She had a pair of black gloves that were identical to Max's, during the tournament before they'd all split teams, the fingers were cut-off on the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger but the last two were covered by the dark material.

Her team stood behind her, waiting for her to make a move. Kurtz was visible next to Terra, wearing the same all-black outfit as earlier (so they weren't his pajamas, he's an early riser), and behind him was the girl Max had danced with at the club, Reyakon, wearing an outfit that stood out as definitely Chinese. The next two members were the ones they hadn't met: A fairly tall girl with icy blue eyes and shoulder-length silvery hair, wearing a schoolgirl uniform (one of the private schools that were extremely hard to get into); and a boy that rivaled Kurtz' height, with sea-blue eyes and hair that matched, dressed in a uniform that was obviously from the same school as the girl before him.

Terra turned t her team, then gave them what looked like a quick pep-talk. Immediately afterwards, they dispersed to mingle, or whatever they felt like doing before prelims started. She then retreated to the very edge of the arena wall and leaned back on it, looking calm and collected as ever.

Reyakon had come over to the Bladebreakers, along with the other girl, and had decided to talk to Max. The girl next to her looked annoyed and not, in the least, happy to be there -that is, until Ray came over.

"So, I guess we're opponents now, huh?" Reyakon grinned at Max and shifted her weight nervously to her opposite foot, hoping he wouldn't want to get snobby because it.

Instead, the blonde boy nodded and replied, "Yeah, this should be a good tournament. By the way, is that Terra girl really your captain? She reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it."

The other girl, who had looked livid at being with competition, responded, "Oh, Ter's the captain, alright. You'll never find a better one. She knows exactly how to balance practice and social life, I'll tell ya," she shot a flirtatious grin at Ray and continued, "aren't you all, like, single, too?"

Ray blushed a bright red and shuffled his feet, "Um, yeah, we're, um…we're all single, except Tyson…well, he's single, but everyone knows who he likes…what's your name, anyway?" he stopped awkwardly, realizing that he didn't sound composed, in the least.

"Kimura," she replied, after a moments silence, "I'm Kimura Kiyah. You can call me Kiyah," she chuckled at his blush and embarrassment, "and I'm pretty sure you won't be single for long…" she winked at him and laughed aloud when he flushed, if possible, even more.

Max was surprised at Ray's lack of relaxation, since the Chinese teen was usually the most laid-back aside from Kai. Speaking of which, where was Kai? He voiced his question, "Hey, where'd Kai get to?"

"Hm?" Reyakon looked up from her daze, as she'd been gazing fondly at Max, who was ever-oblivious, "Oh, he's the moody guy, right? I think he's over there, with Terra," she pointed them out and, sure enough, he was talking -well, there wasn't much talking going on- with the young captain.

Kiyah sighed and shook her head, "doesn't he realize she's the one on our team most focused on beating you guys?" she asked curiously and innocently, "Terra was just saying yesterday that she didn't care how cute he was, she'd beat his ass down in the arena if she had to bust her blade."

Ray frowned, "Did she really say that?"

Reyakon nodded, "Yeah, she did. But I think she was just putting on a show. We've decided that she likes him. More than she liked any of those other bladers."

Kiyah stifled a snigger, "Yeah, our captain has a knack for getting involved with the competition. Hey, Rin, remember when she dated that Kane guy?"

Reyakon bobbed her head eagerly, "Sure do! She got really pissed when he turned out to be a psychic, though…" the two shared a look and dropped the subject completely.

"Wait," Max exclaimed suddenly, "Kane from the Psychics! We fought him AND his team! They had all those bit-beast capturing systems!"

"Yeah, that was them," Kiyah replied with a dark look, "Terra's family is pretty screwed-up. I think their lead scientist, Doctor B or whatever, is either her uncle or her grandfather (Uncle, definitely), can't remember which."

It was Ray and Max's turns to exchange a look, "you're kidding right?"

Reyakon shook her head, "Nope. Dead serious, scout's honor," she held up a girl scout sign and giggled lightly, "her grandfather, for sure, is Nicholas Darkwood, that guy that sponsors Beyblade tournaments and stuff in America. She's, like, totally rich. I think that she's also related to the Ivnov's…um, I think that's what she said."

A bell rang, signaling the start of prelims. Reyakon and Kiyah quickly bid goodbye to their friends and disappeared into the crowd of bladers. Max and Ray exchanged another glance as Ray exclaimed, "Ivanov! Isn't that Tala's last name?"


End file.
